Turkey seeks safe release of 18 kidnapped Turkish workers in Iraq: Foreign Ministry
by Daily Sabah with AA
ISTANBULSep 09, 2015 - 12:00 am GMT+3
by Daily Sabah with AA
Sep 09, 2015 12:00 am
Turkey is making every effort to secure the safe release of 18 kidnapped Turkish citizens in Iraq, the Foreign Ministry spokesman said Wednesday.
In an interview with Anadolu Agency, spokesman Tanju Bilgiç said that Turkey was monitoring the situation round-the-clock and urged Iraqi authorities to secure their release as soon as possible.
Bilgiç said that Turkey's Ambassador to Iraq, Faruk Kaymakçı, was in touch with Iraqi authorities to see how the Turkish workers could be rescued without jeopardizing their safety.
On Sept. 1, men in military uniforms reportedly abducted the group, which included 14 workers, three engineers and an accountant, early on Wednesday after raiding the construction site of a Turkish company, Nurol Holding, in Sadr city, a Baghdad suburb.
Though neither the identity nor motives of the kidnappers are known, the incident brings to mind the raid that occurred on June 11 last year, when 49 Turkish hostages including diplomats, consular officials and their families were kidnapped from the Turkish Consulate in Mosul by Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) militants, a day after the terrorist organization took control of the city. Nurol, one of the largest construction companies in Turkey, was awarded a stadium construction contract in Sadr City in 2012. The company also has a liaison office in Baghdad.
Officials said the kidnappers stormed the construction site at dawn on Wednesday while the workers were sleeping in caravans and took them away in several SUVs. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
People dressed in military uniforms broke down the door at 3:00 a.m. local time and abducted the Turkish citizens. Neither the identity nor the motives of the kidnappers were immediately known. There were no reports of violence.
The style and scale of kidnapping harkened back to the sectarian violence in Baghdad in 2006 and 2007 when Sunni and Shiite militants kidnapped followers of the other sect. In most cases, the bodies of those who were kidnapped were found a day or two later with marks of torture and bullet wounds to the head.
Baghdad has been beset by violence for over a decade now, with roadside bombs, suicide attacks and assassinations almost becoming daily occurrences. While kidnapping for ransom has continued, abductions on the scale seen on Wednesday have been almost unheard of in the past few years.
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